Plant-inspired growing robots

Abstract

Plants have conquered almost all surfaces on our planet; they were the first settlers in hostile environments, making way for habitats that could then be settled by nearly all living beings. Plants, as sessile organisms, spend their entire lives at the site of their seed germination. Consequently, they require a suite of strategies to survive extremely diverse environmental conditions and stresses. Some may think that plants do not actually move unless they grow; however, this is incorrect. Plants move a great deal, although they typically move in a different time frame than animals. Plants are able to move their organs, often in response to stimuli, and they have developed a variety of motion systems, primarily as a result of water absorption and transport. Despite their exceptional evolutionary and ecological success, plants have rarely been a source of inspiration for robotics and artificial intelligence, likely due to misconceptions of their capabilities and because of their radically different operational principles compared with other living organisms. This chapter will describe several plant features that can be translated to technological solutions and, thus, open up new horizons in engineering by offering inspiration for developing novel principles to create growing, adaptable robots and smart-actuation systems.